Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. 1 Peter 1:8-12
First, I would like to say thank you for purchasing an Ashlee Proffitt Advent Calendar.
I pray this sweet little product provides an opportunity for you to pursue those you love most this Christmas season while celebrating it’s true meaning. Below you will find a few special instructions and helpful hints for making the most out of your Advent Calendar & Family Guide!
Mostly I want to encourage you with this, the Advent Calendar was not created to serve as one more thing you have to do each day. Rather, this calendar & family guide was created to serve you and your family, to be a resource to help you point your heart and your family’s hearts to Jesus during the Christmas season. It is not meant to be hard or complicated. You could literally reference the daily Scripture cards as you are tucking the littles into bed, simply read the verses and then pray with your children.
I pray the Advent Calendar & Family Guide is an enormous blessing to you this Christmas!
HOW DO I SET UP MY HANGING ADVENT CALENDAR?
You can display your Advent Calendar any way you like! The Hanging Advent Calendar comes with ribbon and mini clothespins (and the instructions below) but only use those if it works best for your home and family.
Where do I hang my Advent Calendar?
You can hang your calendar in a number of places!
An empty wall, a mantle over a fireplace, over a window!
Hang ribbon on mantle or wall using tape, hooks, or thumbtacks.
Place cards in numbered envelopes.
(Correct Scripture Card order below.)
Hang envelopes on ribbon with clothespins.
What if I don’t have an empty wall or mantle? How do I hang my Advent Calendar?
In our home I have used an empty frame and tack 5 strips of the ribbon to the frame and hang the envelopes accordingly. See here! Check out how others are hanging their Advent Calendars here and here!
Scripture Card Order (for Hanging Advent Calendar)
[col1]1. Luke 1:26-30
2. Luke 1:30-33
3. Luke 1:34-35
4. Luke 1:36-38
5. Luke 1:46-50
6. Matthew 1:19-21
7. Isaiah 7:14
8. Micah 5:2
[/col1][col2]9. Jeremiah 23:5
10. Isaiah 9:6
11. Luke 2:1-3
12. Luke 2:4-6
13. Luke 2:6-7
14. Luke 2:8-10
15. Luke 2:11-14
16. Luke 2:15-18
[/col2][col3]
17. Luke 2:19-20
18. Matthew 2:1-2
19. Matthew 2:3-6
20. Matthew 2:9-10
21. Matthew 2:11-12
22. John 1:1-5
23. John 1:14
24. Matthew 20:28
25. John 3:16
[/col3]
WHAT ABOUT MY TABLETOP ADVENT CALENDAR?
The beauty of the Tabletop Advent Calendar is it’s simplicity. I created it to be versatile and go anywhere that best suits your family. Our Advent Calendar will be perched in our kitchen on our island where we will use it every morning. Put it on your little’s nightstands or your living room coffee table or your dining room table. Just find the place where you’ll see it and be able to use it every day.
TIPS FOR USING YOUR ADVENT CALENDARS & FAMILY GUIDE
- Set a time & place. Make a decision with your family and/or community (that you will be celebrating Advent with) when and where you will be doing your Advent celebrations every day. Having a plan in place will ensure that you have been intentional in creating space in your normal rhythms to really celebrate this season in way that is not rushed and guilt-free.
- Keep it simple & lower expectations. Remember Advent is not about about perfect. If you are striving for perfect, the season will be one of impossible expectations on you and those you are sharing it with.
- Prayer & Bible Time With Littles. This time does not need to be perfect or overly spiritual. In fact our (the Proffitt family) times spent reading the Bible or praying with our littles are often wrought with giggles and wiggles. Keep in mind that you are creating a culture and rhythm in your family and that it’s the big picture love and heart for Jesus that you are attempting to put into place.
- Document your season. Take pictures of your daily activity and write down family memories as you make them. Use a paper clip and tuck the photos and/or memory cards into your Advent Calendar to see next year.
HOW DO I USE THE ACTIVITY CARDS?
Whether using the Hanging Calendar or the Tabletop Calendar, simply choose an Activity Card to complete with your family! There is no specific order for the activity cards so you get to decide what’s best for your family each day! For those with the Tabletop Calendar, that means you can even do your favorite activity as many times as you like.
The activity cards are to serve as an inspiration and get you doing fun things as a family. Again, this does not have to perfect or pinterest-worthy executed. Your children will never remember that you homemade the cookies from scratch or if you just bought pre-made dough. They will just remember having cookies under the tree while reading their favorite Christmas book! So have simple fun that you can actually enjoy instead of stressing over.
Helpful Tips
We choose our activity in the morning but execute in the evening when we are all back together. Over breakfast we read our Advent verse of the day and then pick out an activity as a family.
This method serves two purposes:
1. Choosing the activity in the morning gives me time to plan and execute the activity for that day.
I can buy ingredients or print crafts or rent a movie if necessary.
2. Choosing the activity in the morning give our littles sweet anticipation of the fun activity all day which makes it even more fun!
OUR FAVORITE ACTIVITIES + INSPIRATION
Gingerbread House: Tips & Tricks | Gingerbread Nativity | Adorable Inspiration
Take Gifts to Teachers & Friends: Our annual teacher gift (with a starbucks gift card or two.)
Paper Snowflakes: How To, Patterns, & Paper Snowflake Ideas
Make Hot Cocoa: My favorite (and easy) recipe.
Read A Christmas Story Book: A list of our favorites!
OUR FAVORITE CHILDREN’S RESOURCES
- The Jesus Storybook Bible
- The Action Bible | The Action Bible Devotional (perfect for little boys)
- Following Jesus Bible (my 8 year old loves this Bible)
- Big Picture Bible for Kids
- Jesus Calling for Kids
OUR FAVORITE ADULT RESOURCES
- Gospel Transformation Bible
- Naptime Diaries Advent Devotional (available as a digital download)
- She Reads Truth Advent Series
- You Version Bible App
- Morning & Evening by Spurgeon
- Gospel by JD Greer
- Reason for God by Tim Keller
- Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. EPHESIANS 3:14-19